It is quite common to encounter a lug nut that is frozen tight to a lug extending from a wheel hub. Many times, the lug nut is so tightly bound to the lug that it cannot be loosened and removed even when treated with special oils that are designed to penetrate and loosen such a frozen nut. In fact, some lug nuts become so tightly bound and frozen to a lug that when sufficient torque is applied the entire lug breaks or is twisted off its hub.
Frozen lug nuts can be caused by a variety of conditions. Principal contributors are generally weather and environment related. For example, one of the most common places where one finds frozen lug nuts is on the hub of boat trailers. This is because the entire hub of a boat trailer is often submerged in water (fresh or salt) during the course of launching or loading a boat onto the trailer. In addition, boat trailers and other vehicles that are commonly maintained in coastal regions are prone to include rusted and corroded lug and lug nuts and this too can give rise to situations where the lug nuts become tightly bound about their lug.
Therefore, there has been and continues to be a need for some type of protective device to house and enclose lug and lug nuts that extend from boat trailer hubs and other vehicles that have hubs that are sometimes submerged in water or exposed to the elements of weather.